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Disaster in Whatcom County COVID-19 pandemic highlights difficulty in preparing for the unknown Jeremy Lott Marty Stauffer is the owner of Lynden-based insurance brokerage Stauffer Insurance. When Business Pulse knocked on his glass door in the middle of March, it was locked. “I’m practicing social distancing,” Stauffer said, opening the door and offering hand sanitizer and a chair about six feet from where he’d be sitting. He had good reason to be cautious. The novel coronavirus, which first infected humans in Wuhan, the capital city of China’s Hubei province, in December 2019, was proving much more infectious than previous coronaviruses, including the one that caused SARS. It had effectively crippled entire countries at that point. In the United States, some of the earlierst cases of COVID-19 were in Washington state, where the virus struck most dramatically at a Kirkland-area nursing home. Well over 100 cases were confirmed connected to the Life Care Center, with at least 35 dead, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state government had tried to slow the virus’s spread first with warnings and partial limitations and then with the mandated closure of bars and restaurants to in-person dining and drinking, the closure of entertainment and recreational facilities, and sharp limits on large gatherings. Whatcom County followed with even more mandated
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closures, including the closure of salons and tattoo parlors. With the exception of supply stores, which were getting mobbed, retail stores that managed to stay open were struggling to scratch up business. As time went on, additional measures were announced, including the extension of school closures throughout the state through the end of the 20192020 school year. The basic message from government, medical professionals and many business leaders was straightforward, though hard to follow to the letter for many: Stay home unless absolutely necessary. This meant a total shutdown for a large chunk of the economy and, for others, a rethinking of how to conduct business. Later closures of all nonessential businesses as part of Gov. Jay Inslee’s March 2.”Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order took matters a step further. Most people who contract COVID-19 live through it. Though numbers are difficult to pin down, experts estimate that 1 in 100 people who get this strain of coronavirus worldwide die from it, as opposed to 1 in 1,000 for the flu. The economic damage is more widespread. By mid-March, when Stauffer unlocked his door for Business Pulse, the pandemic had already sickened and killed thousands, disrupted supply chains, led to the hoarding of
